Steven Furtick - I Know I Am (01/29/2026)
This sermon addresses the universal feeling of being "unqualified," sparked by a theologian's one-word critique of the pastor. Using Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3-4) as the primary example, the message explores how feelings of dysfunction, deficiency, and doubt can paralyze us. The solution is found in taking God's name—"I AM"—allowing His identity and sufficiency to replace our negative self-perceptions and qualify us for His calling.
Unqualified: When God Calls the Deficient
So anytime you're looking for the deepest parts of your soul, there's only one place you can go. And of course, that's YouTube. I don't normally go to YouTube for my theological questions, but sometimes it just so happens that that's the place where you get them. I'll explain. It was a Saturday afternoon. I was preparing to go and preach. And I've been watching a sermon on YouTube. And you know how YouTube has the little "recommended for you" thing on the sidebar. Sometimes you free fall into the abyss of the sovereignty of YouTube. So it gave me a clip that it suggested I should watch next. And of course, since YouTube is all knowing, I decided I'd give it a shot.
And I played the video and it was an interview with a theologian. Now, this theologian is world famous. This guy's world renowned. I had read his books in seminary, or I should say I was assigned to read his books in seminary. I'm not sure I actually finished his books. But I knew the guy and it was an interview to ask him about theological questions of the day. And so I kind of walked away from the clip. I hit play and I was going to get ready to preach. And all of a sudden, I heard something really strange just in the background. I heard them say my name. And I ran back into the room and I realized they had gone into a lightning round.
And the interviewer was asking the theologian at this pastor's conference, his opinion on several different topics. And he wanted him to answer in just one word, these different topics that he threw out. And all of a sudden, the topic of my name came up. I was excited. I was like, they're talking about me. I didn't even know the guy knew who I was, you know, famous theologian. And so I run back in the room to hear what they're going to say. And the interviewer asked the theologian, he goes, "what comes to your mind when you hear the name Steven Furtick?" And the theologian dropped his head and he sighed as if like even considering the mention of my name was a burden.
Like my name was toxic, chemical, radioactive gas that he was breathing in. And he breathed out. Big sigh. And he looks back up. And he stares at the interviewer. And he summarizes my entire life and ministry in one word. And the way he said this word, I'm going to try to impersonate it. I can't even tell you what it sounded like. And he said it with the finality of a gavel in a death penalty case in the state of Texas. Just one word. And he looked at the interviewer, Steven Furtick, and he said, "unqualified." What was interesting to me is I had never met the guy. And I found it kind of funny that he could summarize my whole life in one word.
I mean, at least it was four syllables. So it was kind of a big word, but I was sitting there surprised that he could so accurately summarize my whole life in ministry in one word: unqualified. But what surprised me the most about it was the fact that I wasn't really angry. I mean, there would have been a time where I would have followed that up with some words, and I don't even need four syllables. I could have followed it up with some words that would have made "unqualified" sound like a Valentine's Day card greeting. But instead, what I found myself thinking was, exactly. That's exactly how I feel.
You're in Good Company
I know I'm not the only one. I hear that all the time in my own mind. I don't need YouTube to tell me. I don't need a theologian to tell me. I've been a pastor now for coming up on 10 years. And there hasn't been a day that I've reported for work, whether I'm preaching or helping people or leading, that I haven't felt unqualified. He just finally put a label on what I felt my whole life. And I didn't just start feeling it when I became a pastor. And I don't only feel it when it comes to my leadership duties. I feel it as a dad. I feel it as a husband. I feel it as a Christian.
And so I decided to approach this topic of being unqualified. And I started asking people all around me, have you ever feel unqualified? And I wasn't asking people who don't have jobs. I wasn't asking people who never made it past the seventh grade. I was asking people with college degrees. I was asking people who are seemingly happily married. I was asking people who look like they're at the top of their game. And every single person that I asked, no matter how long they've had a relationship with God, or no matter how much Bible knowledge they have, it resonated with them that deep down somewhere within myself, I feel unqualified.
And the more I thought about the designated term that the theologian chose for me, unqualified, the less it felt like a criticism, and the more it felt like a compliment. Because see, if I'm unqualified, that puts me in some pretty good company. Like that means I get to hang out with all the Bible heroes, the people that God handpicked who were screwed up dysfunctional, people like Noah who got drunk after a flood, people like Gideon who was hiding out in a wine press threshing wheat, people like Peter who couldn't shut his mouth when he needed to shut his mouth, people like Peter who cut off Malchus's ear in the garden when he should have been representing the one who came to bring healing to the world.
I'm just saying that if you've ever felt unqualified, you're in pretty good company. So I want to issue an invitation to everybody who has ever felt unqualified to join the club and own it and realize that that's never stopped God. Because I found that it really doesn't matter what a theologian thinks about me. It really doesn't matter what someone says about me. Really, what matters is what I see in myself. And you can't talk about being unqualified without talking about Moses. Moses is my main character. He is the poster child for the unqualified.
Moses and the "I Am" Crisis
I wonder if we could look at him for a moment because one of the most famous scenes in Moses's life is found at what we call the burning bush. Now, to Moses, it wasn't the scene at the burning bush. For Moses, it was just any other day. It was just a day at the office tending sheep for his father-in-law, Jethro, on the far side of the desert. He had no idea that he would encounter God in a special way on that day. And you know, a lot of times we don't. A lot of times we're just going about our business, just flipping through television, just going to our job.
And sometimes, in those moments, God calls us to look and to step aside and to stop. And he reveals something about our identity that we never could have known otherwise, something that YouTube can't show us, something that you can't even see in yourself sometimes, but God has seen it all along. And so when God calls to Moses and tells him that, "I've come down to rescue my people from Egyptian slavery, and I've heard their cries, and I'm choosing you to be their deliverer." Moses says to God in Exodus 3, verse 11, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" Who am I?
Isn't that the central question that really never goes away? Isn't that the question of identity that can keep us in so many stages and phases of our life, pretending, posturing, posing, trying to accomplish our way into an identity that God has already given to us as a gift? When God speaks to Moses about the great plans that he has, Moses has no doubt that God can do it. It's not God that Moses is concerned about. It's Moses. It's Moses. The researcher, Brene Brown, has some interesting work on vulnerability, shame, and wholehearted living.
Brene Brown posits that the feeling that most of us are walking around, carrying the weight and the burden that most of us are living under, and the cloud that is covering our view so that we can't receive our calling in life, is this sense that I am never enough. Maybe we even put a blank there. I am never ______ enough. I asked a group of people to fill in that blank. I said, what is it that you feel that you are never enough? Their answers ranged. Someone said, never experienced enough. Someone said, never patient enough. Someone said, never competent enough.
Someone said, never consistent enough. Someone said, never strong enough. Someone said, never smart enough. Someone said, never awesome enough. I like that one. Maybe you have your own word that goes in that blank. I am never ______ enough. I understand why Moses would have wondered, God, did you dial the right number? You know, we use all kinds of phrases and terms to qualify ourselves and to explain ourselves and to even understand ourselves. I call this concept the third word, meaning that you've been filling in this blank, "I am ______."
Moses's Third Words: Dysfunctional, Deficient, Doubtful
Sometimes it's hard to even know what to put after "I am." Moses has a few different things that are defining his identity at this point in his life. You have to understand that at this point in Moses' life, he is a murderer, a fugitive on the run. He grew up as Egyptian royalty, but now he's back in a place. He's actually dislocated from his destiny in a sense. And so when God speaks to Moses, the first thought that Moses might have is, "I am dysfunctional." Now, I wonder, can you relate to this feeling of being dysfunctional?
Now, you may not have Moses' same dilemma. Moses was a murderer. He killed an Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He tried to do the right thing, which was deliver his people, but he did it in the wrong way. And so because of his choices in the past and his experiences in the past, he reaches this place of dysfunction. And Moses is certainly carrying with him the dysfunction of knowing that I had a destiny, but I blew it. I wonder, do you feel dysfunctional? Now, you may not say it this way, but all of us have these third words. "I am dysfunctional."
It's that thing you know about yourself that nobody else knows. It's that thing that you struggle with that you don't talk about in prayer group. It's that thing that you think about over and over again that if we asked you about it, you would develop a code name to talk about it, but you wouldn't really get to the essence of it. It's the thing that you try to hide. It's the thing that makes you feel hidden. It's the thing that prevents you from connecting with others. "I am dysfunctional," Moses may have said. Or, the next one, Moses may have said, "I am deficient."
You see, God was calling Moses to go to Pharaoh, the most powerful man in the world, and to speak on God's behalf, to release the captives by speaking liberation. The only problem is, Moses wasn't a very good speaker. Have you ever felt like God called you to do something that he should have wired you to do, but apparently he forgot to put that part in when he let you off the assembly line? Yeah, we all feel that way. Maybe it's not speaking for you, but maybe it's an area of expertise that you lack. You feel like you're trying to put in something that God left out, or that life is demanding something from you that God didn't give you. Moses felt that way. "I am slow of speech. I'm not very eloquent. I am deficient." And "I am doubtful." I wonder, could you really use me?
I know some of you have probably never had anybody break your heart. Maybe you're the heartbreaker, but I'll never forget a girl breaking up with me one time, and what she told me was meant to make me feel good, but really she was just trying to let me down easily. She had this thing she said, maybe you've heard it before. She said, "it's not you. It's me." You've heard this, too. You've heard this. She was trying to say, you know, I'm not ready for a relationship. It's not you. It's me. That's what I hear Moses saying to God at the burning bush, and that's where I see a lot of believers getting stuck.
It's not that I don't believe that God is mighty. I know God is mighty. He created the mountains. I know God is mighty. He summons the wind and the waves at his word. I know God is incredible. I know God can do all things. I just know me. It's not God that I'm worried about. It's not you, God. It's me. I am doubtful. Well, what's interesting about Moses and what's interesting about our lives is that God bypasses all of that and uses Moses anyway. As unqualified as he was, according to his ability. As disqualified as he was, based on his history. God used him anyway.
Taking God's Name: The Real Meaning
Okay. And I wonder, is God trying to speak to you today that he has seen you and watched you and formed you and made you, and he has chosen to use you anyway? Because Moses went to the Pharaoh, and he unleashed the plagues of Egypt. And maybe you want to read all of this in your Bible, but I wanted to go all the way over to Exodus chapter 20. And this is where God is giving Moses what we call the Ten Commandments, or the Hebrews would have known them as the Ten Words or the Ten Laws. And there are several that you may be familiar with. There's, you know, "don't kill" and "don't commit adultery."
And all of those are good. But for the purpose of this study, I wanted to look at Exodus 20, verse 7, where God tells Moses something that you may have heard before, but I wonder, do you know what it means? Because God tells Moses in this list of ways that he wants his people to relate with him in covenant and to know him as God, he says, "you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain." Now, the way I always heard that growing up, it had a very specific and limited application. It basically meant don't say, "oh my God," or don't use Jesus' name as a bad word. And I think that's great. And we should listen to that.
But the Hebrews wouldn't have understood it that way. We need a little language lesson here. For the Hebrews, to take someone's name meant to associate with their character. A more accurate way to translate it might be like this: "Don't carry the name of the Lord your God in vain." Not just in your speech, but as your way of life. So, don't know God and live like you don't. Don't have a relationship with God and then follow the customs of all of the people who don't have a relationship with your God. Don't carry or take the name of the Lord your God in a way that is empty or hollow—in vain.
I still don't know if this is making sense. Maybe an illustration would help. On June the 1st of 2002, which I referred to as the greatest day of my wife's life. The day she married me. When she took my name, we became one. When she took my name, everything that I had, which was less than $1,000 at this point in our relationship, so we didn't need a prenup, but everything that I had became everything that she had. And everything that she had became everything that I had. And everything that I dreamed became what she dreamed. And all of our aspirations and goals were wrapped up in each other when she took my name.
Now let me tell you what happened to you on the day that you decided to become a follower of Christ. You took His name. And when you took His name, it's more than just a label, "I'm a Christian." It's a way of life. It's a way of seeing yourself. It's a way of seeing your world. It's even a way of seeing your limitations. So what is His name? If I took it, I need to know what it is. And that's what Moses wanted to know. He's standing at a bush, and he wasn't expecting this. And God gives him this great summons, this great call to fulfill a destiny, but he feels deficient, and he feels dysfunctional.
And he feels like maybe God got the wrong number, but he wants to know "what's your name, God." And I love what God says. I think this is a sense of heavenly humor. I think that God is laughing when he's saying this to Moses. God said to Moses, "I am who I am." I am who I am. I am present. I am perfect. I am powerful. I am whoever I need to be in any situation. You can't limit me. Watch this. He said, "this is what you are to say to the Israelites. 'I am' has sent me to you." Now, you can imagine Moses at this point. He's waiting on the rest of the name, right? "I am." That's just the beginning. Okay. "I am." Yes. I'm with you. I'm waiting. I am. I am. I am. You am what? Is this Dr. Seuss? I am. I am.
See, God is so big, he doesn't need a third word. In fact, God is so big, no third word can contain him. Not a paragraph, not a book of prose, not an encyclopedia, not the Internet. But you and I, see, we need a third word. And I wonder if when the Bible says, "don't take the name of the Lord in vain." Hebrew, Yahweh. Latin, we translate it Jehovah. It means "I am." God said, it's my name for all generations. I wonder if when God tells Moses, "make sure my people don't take my name in vain." I wonder if what he means is be very careful what you put in that blank when you speak about yourself.
Your Third Word in His Name
You fill in that blank all the time. And you say all kinds of things about yourself. I mean, some are positive, some are negative. I am strong. I am driven. I am stupid. I am stuck. I am hurting. I am overwhelmed. I am capable. I'm disappointed. I'm broken. I'm jaded. I'm content. It's fine. It's fine because it's complicated. I mean, the Bible says that God's thoughts are so numerous about us that he doesn't even count them. I mean, we're complicated. You can't summarize it to one word, but be very careful when you put something in that blank that God is not because you took his name.
And when God gave you the gift of the revelation of who he is and called you to follow him, especially as a follower of Christ, especially of those who live on this side of the cross, we're like Peter. When Jesus asked Peter, "who do people say that I am?" He's bringing back that ancient name, that name that was given to Moses that was to be God's name for all generations. And Peter said, "you are the Christ, the son of the living God." But the next thing that Peter did was get a revelation of his own identity. Jesus said, "now that you've identified who I am, I'm going to tell you who you are. You are Peter." And upon this rock, Petros in Greek, I will build my church.
Peter was unqualified. Moses was unqualified. You're unqualified, but thankfully for us, God gives us the gift of his identity. You say, "I'm so deficient." And God says, "but I am sufficient." And my grace is sufficient for you, Paul would later say, "I am." It's the power of your third word. "I am doubtful." And God says, "I am faithful." And even if you deny me, I will not deny myself. And if Christ is in you, this hope is in you. What comes to your mind when you hear the name Steven Furtick? Unqualified. I'm glad God gave me a third word that isn't dependent on what someone else says about me or even what I see in myself.
But his third words are the things that he has spoken over me and spoken over you before you were ever born. The psalmist said, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." I am. I am. And God, we thank you today for the gift of your identity in our lives. We ask that we would locate those third words that have kept us stuck and kept us bound and kept us feeling unqualified and that today we would embrace your qualification of us for the great things that you've called us to do. We thank you that you are present in this moment, the great I am, the one who was and is and is to come. And we ask you today for a revelation of who we are in Jesus Christ, for a revelation of what we've been called to do in his name, and for a revelation of the way that you see us and the word that you've spoken over us. We believe your words over our lives. In Jesus name. Amen.